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Louisa
Population: 26,700 (65% Human, 15% Half-Elf, 10% Halfling, 5% Gnome, 3% Elf, 2% Dwarf) Government: Democratic Republic Religions: All Imports: Parchment, Ink, Grain, Weapons, Armors Exports: Books, Thinkers, Sculptures, Artwork, Musicians, Music, Philosophy Alignment: All Life and Society Louisans consider their modest city-state the best place in the world to live. It is known, affectionately, as the “Jewel of the South”. Their city enjoys nice weather most of the time, the people are generally friendly and decent, and a person is free to do nearly anything they want- no matter who they are, no matter what their background is. Although they have a lot of pride in their city-state, they are by no means arrogant about it, such as the Memnonites, and the Altathairians. Louisa, along with Altathair, is one of the few places where the game of flagball is the most popular sport. Numerous private flagball leagues within the city exist. The sport is made up of two teams that compete against each other by running bases after hitting a tightly spun ball with a flag attached to it. Louisans are generally more liberal than anyone else on the entire continent. This has given them the distinction of being seen as too aloof, or too naïve, by the residents of other nations, kingdoms and/or city-states. For instance, they extend their constitutional amendments to Goblinoids, Orcs, and other creatures that most consider “pests” and “vermin”. Louisa is the only known national entity, besides for the Shou Empire, to have a public education system. In most other place, only the well to do, or those who can afford it are educated, while the majority of the populace is left in uneducated ignorance. In Louisa, it is actually mandatory for children of all legal citizens to attend free municipal schooling. Human children seven to fifteen, and their demihuman equivalents attend different academies located around the city, and are taught rudimentary and advanced subjects, ranging from mathematics and literature, to history and magic. Most adult citizens belong to one or more political club, religious organization, or philosophic movement. These groups, organizations, clubs, movements, federations and factions all make up the different groups that are part of the Louisan Parliament. Not every club, as they are most commonly known as, has a representative in the parliament, and some clubs have more than one representative in it. Clubs that are represented in the Louisan Parliament include, but are not limited to: The Athar, The House of Lore , The Church of Denier, The Independence Council , The Church of Oghma, The Knights of the South , The Freethinker’s Guild, The Louisan Alliance , The Greater Louisan Board, and The Order of Enlightenment Major Organizations Louisan Parliament Office of the Mayor of Louisa Major Geographical Features Louisa, the “Jewel of the South” is located in the southeast, just south of the Great Forest, and the Ruins of Myth Quessir. Louisa is located on the bank of the River Telshurr. The river is of great importance to Louisa, as it allows sea vessels to gain access to the city, and it makes for faster trade. Louisa is a temperate city, for the most part, that sees its fair share of extremes. During the spring, the air often starts out cool, but warms to a comfortable level as the day progresses. During the spring, light rainstorms are also common. During the summer, the days are warm, and sometimes even excessively hot. The summer seasons also bring with them thunderstorms. During the autumn, the temperatures begin to drop, and are very similar to those during the spring months. Finally, the winter months bring with them cold temperatures that sometimes dip to, and below, the freezing point. During the winter months, light to moderate snowfall is not that uncommon. Every so often, Louisa gets a blizzard during the winter months, as well. Important Sites The Hall of Records The House of Lore Castle Louisa Parliament Building Locust Manor Regional History Louisa can trace its origins back well over five hundred years ago. Back then, most of the world the continent was still covered in lush, thick, green forests. And, unlike now, most of these forests were inhabited by Elves. To the west, the Elves of Ninthrill Forest has just gotten into a war with the Human tribes who had settled in the area. The Humans had been logging in the forest, and the Elves were not at all pleased about it. After months of war in which both sides suffered losses, the Elves of Ninthrill came to an agreement with the Humans. The Elves would give the Humans in the area a specific amount of land- it was theirs to do with what they like. In return, they were not supposed to ever venture into the rest of Ninthrill Forest again. The Elves of the Southern Great Forest shortly learned of what their cousins to the west did. In order to prevent any casualties, they preemptively went to the Human tribes living in the south, and made them an offer- If they accepted a small plot of land, and agreed not to bother the Wood Elves, the Elves would not bother the Humans. The leader of this Human tribe, a man by the name of Martan Tahame. Not having to wander anymore, Martan and his fellow tribesman finally settled down after countless years of wandering from place to place. Martan named his newly acquired land ‘Louisa’, after his wife, who had just died earlier that year. He then chose a specific plot of land to settle down upon. For hundreds of years, Louisans enjoyed peace and prosperity under the rule of their king, who was always of the Tahame family. The Tahames were especially benevolent, unlike many other rulers, and granted their people many freedoms not available in many other places. In fact, by the time the ninth century arrived, about four hundred years after its conception, Louisa was known as the “Little Gem of the South”. The city attracted thinkers, philosophers, musicians, and all sorts of other “enlightened” individuals. In 1055, Baldrick Tahame died, leaving his twenty-three year old son, Prince Jerrod, the throne. Jerrod was a natural leader, and took to leading the small nation with ease. The young king was well loved by his people, respected by his allies, and feared by his few enemies. Two years after taking the throne, Jerrod wed Lady Lanya of Altathair, a dainty noblewoman who was distantly related to the King of Altathair, Jordan II. This brought the two nations closer together, and ushered in an age of prosperity. King Jerrod and Lady Lanya were both quite pleased as well, since the two had fallen in love years earlier, and had a secret, long-distance romance. It was not long after he was wed that a storm began brewing. In 1059, the Revolutionary League was founded. Like the many other groups, religions, clubs and movements that existed in Louisa, this group enjoyed total freedom, and did not have to worry about being persecuted by the government. But, unlike most of the other groups, religions, clubs, and movements, the Revolutionary League preached violence and anarchy. They preached that no other being had the right to rule over other beings, and that all rulers, kings, queens, dictators, despots and other forms of leadership needed to be done away with. Most citizens stayed away from the Revolutionary League. The majority of their membership included the downtrodden, the few poverty-stricken in the city, and adherents of chaotic religions. In 1061, the Revolutionary League published its first paper. In Louisa, it was not, and is still not, uncommon for an organization to print “newsletters”, or “well-researched dissertations”. This dissertation paper focused on King Jerrod’s marriage to Queen Lanya, and how King Jerrod was now nothing more than a pawn for the more powerful King Jordan II of Altathair. Very few of the “facts” within this paper were true, and the entire document was really written just to inflame people’s opinions of the King. Most simply ignored the Revolutionary League. Realizing the error of their ways, the Revolutionary League printed another paper the following year. This paper dealt with the fact that King Jerrod had been awarding more and more plots of Louisan land to those he deemed worthy, and was causing the size of the kingdom to shrink. This paper met with more acclaim than the first paper, and many began looking at the Revolutionary League as not just another unhinged movement, but as a real sociopolitical and philosophical organization. The Revolutionary League might have been able to do more, but disaster struck the organization. Late the same year they released their second paper, their coffers ran suddenly dry. To this day, nobody knows for sure about how or why this happened so suddenly, and why nobody with the Revolutionary League realized it. Some say that the Louisan government had something to do with it. Others say that a daring thief stole the funds. Some even say that certain leaders of the organization embezzled the funds. In any case, the Revolutionary League could barely pay its taxes, and was on the verge of no long being a legally binding organization. It took five years for the Revolutionary League to recover from this setback. In the spring of 1067, they released their third critical paper condemning the monarchy of Louisa. This paper dealt with popular rumors that King Jerrod was having an affair with a noblewoman from Metchult, and that this illicit relationship was going to drag Louisa into a war with possibly both Altathair, where Queen Lanya hailed from, and with Metchult, where the noblewoman who the king was supposedly having an affair with was from. Though early critics condemned this paper as “baseless hearsay”, just like their first paper, something else suddenly overshadowed the controversy. That summer, King Jerrod and Queen Lanya had their first child. Queen Lanya gave birth to a healthy, baby girl- Princess Ameera Tahame. Any thoughts about the Revolutionary League, and their “academic papers” were suddenly forgotten in the wave of revelry and celebration that swept the small kingdom. For five years, the Revolutionary League published no papers. Perhaps they finally realized that their papers were ineffective, and were actually turning their audience against them. In these five years, the Revolutionary League still conducted business, but they simply did not publish any papers. Membership for the organization was light- as it always was- and fluctuated seasonally. In 1071, Altathair and Castle Blaze seemed like they were going to be going to war. The two have been traditional enemies for years. This time, Castle Blaze accused Altathair of using its influence in the Hedgelands to procure more food, labor and resources than necessary, so that whatever they did not take would not go to Castle Blaze. Of course, Altathair denied it, and the two feuded back and forth until it seemed like war was unavoidable. In the winter of 1071, the leaders of the Revolutionary League hatched an insidious plot. They were going to get in touch with a cabal of Druids from the woods south of Temoura, who worshipped fire, ice, lightning, disease, and other “less benign” forces of nature. They were going to have these druids ruin the crops in the small villages and farms that surrounded Louisa. Early the following spring, the Druids did just that. Nearly half of all of the crops for that year failed. This led to higher prices for ordinary foodstuffs, such as bread, wheat, and dough. This caused many of the less wealthy people in the city to fall into poverty and starve. The crown did what it could do, releasing large portions of the royal coffers to the people, and mandating that all local religions provided food for those who needed, but to many, it was still not enough. The fact that war was still looming between Altathair and Casle Blaze, and that Louisa could theoretically get dragged into it did not help in the least. Both mitigating factors led to a sudden boom within the ranks of the Revolutionary League. More and more people had become dissatisfied with the current status quo in Louisa. The Revolutionary League published its fourth paper, this one dealing with the food crisis, the looming aspect of war, and the uncertainty of Louisa’s future. The following year, food prices lowered, and returned to more normal levels. The crisis between Altathair and Castle Blaze ever seemed like it would resolve itself peacefully. The Revolutionary League was still riding the wave that it had built for itself the year before. Not wanting to lose it, they began circulating rumors of an impending Dragon attack. The fact that King Jerrod and Queen Lanya had taken Princess Ameera into the countryside for her birthday celebration did not help. The Revolutionary League told the public that the royal family was aware of what was going to transpire, and had fled without even informing their people. Things had begun to reach critical mass. The people began protesting against the royal family, outside of Castle Louisa. These protests lasted days on end, and forced the royal family to return to Louisa. One particular night, professional rabble-rousers began working up the crowd. The mood of the protest quickly shifted from peaceful to violent. Angry protesters soon began hurling stones as Castle Louisa, and the guards who protected it. The defenders of the castle were ordered not to retaliate, however. An agent of the Revolutionary League snuck into the castle and infiltrated the ranks of the guards. Dressed up as a knight, he began firing his repeating crossbow into the crowd. Though he was quickly stopped by his fellow guards, and restrained, the damage was done. Nearly a year of anger suddenly burst out, as the angry protesters stormed the castle. Many of the guards were unsure what to do, but their natural instincts took over. Before the riots could be peacefully quelled, seventy-seven protesters and rioters who had tried to storm the castle were killed. For a few days, the entire nation simply sat shocked. No one dared to venture into the streets, for fear about what would happen to them. Marketplaces sat empty. The streets were desolate. Both the common people and the royals were unsure about what do to. Seizing the moment, the Revolutionary League stepped in. Claming that if King Jerrod was able to order his guards to kill the common people once, he could do it again, they organized another protest outside of Castle Louisa. This time, more than three times the amount of protesters attended the event as the last time, days before. Again, the Revolutionary League has professional rabble-rousers egging the angry people on. Unlike the previous protest, many people were interested in violence from the get go- Many people had come to the protest armed. When things turned into a riot, the people were now armed. Following unmarked agents of the Revolutionary League, the people began clashing with the armed guards of Castle Louisa. It was not long before the entire mob outside the castle had turned violent, and began storming the castle. Before the monarchy could do anything to stop the people, they were upon the royal family. As the night skies began to rain, the rioting people captured King Jerrod, Queen Lanya and Princess Ameera. They were effectively prisoners in their own quarters for a few hours, until the rioting people and the Revolutionary League decided their fates- death. Before they could be executed, a small contingent of royal guards, led by King Jerrod’s own cousin, Bennet, tried to mount a rescue of the royal family. Bennet and his contingent were unsuccessful, however, and were all killed. Unlike those under his command, Bennet was not killed in combat. Instead, he was knocked unconscious, bound and gagged, and brought to the courtyard of Castle Louisa, where an executioner lopped his head off. Only moments after Bennet’s death, a score of rioters fetched the royal family from their quarters, and brought them to the courtyard of the castle. Incredibly, the feisty Princess Ameera was able to free herself from her captors as the royal family was entering the courtyard. She ran back inside the castle, with a group of Revolutionary League members chasing the seven-year-old girl. This would be the last time King Jerrod or Queen Lanya ever saw their daughter again. Jerrod and Lanya were quickly brought to a small scaffold that had been hastily completed. On it, they were both to be hanged. As he was brought up to the scaffold, King Jerrod gave one last speech to his people. “If you so will it, than let it be. I only ask that you spare my wife and daughter, and not govern this glorious nation into her doom.” With that, King Jerrod Tahame was hanged. Of course, Queen Lanya was not spared, like the king requested. Only moments after killing the king, the Revolutionary League brought Queen Lanya up the scaffolding as well. Next to her loving husband’s dangling corpse, she too was hanged. Princess Ameera’s fate is unknown. The small group of rioters who were chasing her lost track of the girl, and she totally disappeared. Never again would she ever been seen in Louisa, nor anywhere. Popular legends today say that Oghma, the patron of Louisa on a whole, intervened, and brought the young child to safety in his realm, where she was able to reunite with her parents. The bodies of the royal family hanged in the courtyard for days after their execution. Though no one exactly knows who removed their bodies, it is said that a group of sages who still had their wits about them snuck to Castle Louisa in the night, and buried their bodies in the wooded lands just outside the city. The Revolutionary League now took control of the kingdom. Now the rulers of the kingdom, they changed their name to the Revolutionary Council. For the first few weeks of their rule, things continued as they had before the revolution, which was beginning to be called “The Revolution of Tears”. But, things quickly got worse. Other kingdoms and city-states began to trade less with Louisa, understanding that agents of the Revolutionary League could be dispatched to their own cities. Altathair even went so far as to authorize the arrest of any council members, should they ever step into the Sun Kingdom. The people of Louisa soon became angry, and embarrassed at their behavior, and they saw the real reason why they had killed their beloved king. The Revolutionary Council had taken a hold of their fears, their angers and their concerns, and turned them against the king. In the wintry months of 1074, only a few months after the Revolution of Tears, the people once again took to the streets- this time, with an exact purpose in mind. The protesters stormed Castle Louisa once more, but this time, they gathered up the Revolutionary Council, who had no idea what was occurring. The council members who were captured were stripped of any wealth they had amassed since coming into power, and were banished from the kingdom. In the days following, any other members of the Revolutionary Council were rounded up and cast from the kingdom. A new provisionary government was established to write a constitution. The first draft was written fairly quickly, and was put up for popular vote. This version of the Louisan Constitution was ratified with nearly seventy percent of the entire kingdom supporting it. This Constitution gave sovereignty to all of Louisa’s satellite towns and villages that used to be part of the greater kingdom. The Officer of the Mayor of Louisa, the leader of the now city-state, was created. The Mayor would lead the nation with a parliament of 200 other politicians and sages for ten-year periods. The Louisan nobility was dissolved. All citizens of the city-state were given numerous inalienable rights and freedoms. Murdock Blenth, a young politician at the time, was elected the very first Mayor of Louisa. In his first term, Blenth did a lot. Not only was he able to work with the parliament to restore alliances with other kingdoms and nations, most notably Metchult and Altathair. Blenth was also able to restore a great deal of money to the coffers of the government, and allowed Louisa to enjoy prosperity again. The young Blenth, who had played a role in the Revolution of Tears, had an exquisite statue commissioned from the Dwarven city of Tanthulthud. It depicted King Jerrod in ceremonial armor, with Queen Lanya in a beautiful dress. Local wizards enchanted the statue everbrightened. So that it would never fade, nor would it not never look glorious and special. Blenth had the statue placed in the courtyard of Castle Louisa, about right where the royal family had been hanged. He personally laid the plaque that remains on the statue today. “With love to King Jerrod and Queen Lanya Tahame, from your loving and loyal subjects. You never know what you have to care about until it is no longer there to appreciate it”, the plaque says. Blenth was so well liked that he was elected a second time. By this point, the young thirty-something year old politician was now in his fifties. But, he had been in power for twenty years. With the backing of the Louisan Parliament, he amended the Louisan Constitution so that elected mayors would only serve five-year terms, instead of ten-year terms. With this as his final act, he did not seek reelection the following election. In 1095, Manyon Norato, a political ally of Murdock Blenth, and a former member of the Louisan Parliament, became the second Mayor of Louisa. At the time he was appointed mayor, King Jordan II of Altathair had just died, and King Jordan III was assuming the throne. Norato created a new alliance with Altathair, and the two nations enjoyed a very good relationship. He was overwhelmingly elected for a second time five years later. Norato’s political downfall was the fact that he supported Brogo Kelstadt, the newly elected Duke of Parlera. Kelstadt won the election by a slight margin, and many believe that he went so far as to rig the elections. In 1105, Zahra Alturk was elected Mayor of Louisa. Alturk became the first woman to hold the role. Her opponents claimed that she would be unfit to be a leader of Louisa, since she was actually an al-Bed Human. She simply brushed that off, and pointed to the fact that she had lived in Louisa for the majority of her life, and had actually never even been to al-Beduine, since she was born while her parents were in the process of moving to Louisa. Zehra Alturk was well loved by many. Her Louisan sensibilities, coupled with her feisty al-Bed blood made her an effective leader. During her time as mayor, Zehra condemned Duke Brogo Kelstadt of Parlera, who had just appointed himself Duke for life. She aided Castle Blaze recover from the attack by the Red Dragon Dracothaxthys, and improved relations between the two city-states. She was elected to three terms, and would have been elected to a fourth had she not declined to run for the office in 1120. Taban Hull was elected the next mayor. While he was in power, he sent a small contingent of soldiers, and some monetary resources, to aid Castle Blaze against Dracothaxthys, and later, the Stone Claw Orcs. Hull narrowly won his second election, but did not win his third term. Kaspar Felth was elected mayor next, in 1130. Since the office of the Mayor of Louisa was created, Felth has been the most ineffective mayor. Earlier in his career as mayor, he weakened ties to Castle Blaze by snubbing Duke Keller Hendron at a festival, and weakened ties to Temoura, offhandedly saying at a banquet that those who are afraid to show their faces are not fit to rule. Late in his career as mayor, he was implicated in a scandal that involved stealing tax money, and adding it to his own, personal wealth. The Louisan Parliament unanimously suspended Felth indefinitely, because by the time this all came to light, elections were right around the corner. In 1135, Rein Shief Toba was elected Mayor of Louisa. Although he easily won because of the lack of competition, he could have won against stiff competition. Rein is a noble, and has support of Louisa’s more well to do. At the same time, Rein has never let his status get to him, and is a hard worker. As a result, he enjoys the support of most common people as well. Rein Shief Toba lost the use of his legs in an accident, and his personal perseverance to get over his disability appeals to people from all rungs of life. Since coming into power, Rein has done a lot for his city. In 1140, when the Drow wizard Dagnirion Un’Dali raised a floating citadel north of Louisa, Rein allotted a large sum of money to create a new defense force for Louisa, just in case anything untoward ever happened. Toba drafted, and was able to get a form of his Tavern Peace Accords to pass in nearly every single major city around the continent. In 1145, just before winning his third election, the House of Lore was sacked. Toba offered the surviving monks a place to stay, and even donated a large plot of land within Louisa, as well as some money, to help them rebuild. In 1147, only Rein Shief Toba had the courage to openly condemn Archduke Brogo Kelstadt as he began openly persecuting Elves and Half-Elves within Parlera. It is likely that Rein Shief Toba will be mayor of Louisa for a while yet. He still enjoys the popular opinion of the people, and of the Louisan Parliament. Should he continue down the path he has started down, it is likely that Rein Shief Toba will go down as the most successful and beloved ruler of Louisa since King Jerrod himself.